Passengers stranded as Air NZ strike bites

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Six flights between Australia and New Zealand were cancelled
today as the first day of a strike by Air New Zealand cabin crew
took effect.

Previously scheduled return flights between Auckland and Sydney,
Melbourne and Perth on Boeing 747 and 767 aircraft did not take
place after being cancelled late last week when industrial talks
broke down.

All other Air New Zealand trans-Tasman flights, mostly on Airbus
A320 aircraft, went ahead.

Flight attendants are holding three 48-hour strikes this week
over pay and conditions demands, affecting about 15,000 passengers
on the airline's international routes.

On average, about 15 to 20 international flights a day have been
cancelled until next Monday.

About 85 flights in total will be affected, 30 of them between
Australia and New Zealand.

Despite Air New Zealand's efforts to contact them, some
passengers arrived at airports today to learn their flights had
been cancelled.

Others had their transit times extended as they were put on to
later flights, with some having to wait overnight.

A West Australian man delayed in Auckland en route to Hawaii
with his partner said the strike would cut their two-week holiday
short.

"It's a bit of a tragedy really when when you've been saving up
for a year or so and they stuff you around like this," he told
Radio New Zealand.

The airline apologised for the number of passengers
affected.

"I deeply regret that. That is extreme inconvenience," general
manager international airline Ed Sims told radio station
NewstalkZB.

The Flight Attendants and Related Service Association (FARSA) is
seeking an annual 3.8 per cent wage increase over three years which
the airline says it can't afford.

"We are very close to making an agreement, it is just a shame
that although we are so close, we are so far apart," FARSA
industrial officer Heather Stanley said.